Nonrefillable bottle stopper



y 1935- i J. H. GRUVER r:r AL I 2,002,143

NONREFILLABLE BOTTLE STOPPER Filed Oct. 12, 1954 v UNI ED 1:: AT

Patented May 21, 1935 NONREFILLABLE BOTTLE STOPPER- Joseph Harry Gruver,CatonsvilIe, Md, and. a

James H. Baldwin, New Milford, Conn a'ssigners to Container FitmentsInc.,' New York,

Y.,'a corporation of Maryland .Application .OctoberlZ, 1934', Serial No.748,142

' 31;; Claims. (cram- 22) The invention concerns. that type ofnon-refillable bottle stoppers havingiafloat valve, and it consists ofthe features and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed and 5 particularly pointed outin the .claims.

In the .drawing 1 .i L Figure l is a sectional viewthrough the bottlestopper, and through'a portion of the bottle neck in which it islocated. t

-Figure 2 isa side elevation of the stopper.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of the stopper on line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Figure 4 is a transverse section of the stopper online4-4ofFig.1.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the outer casing. of the stopperwith the ballvalve and baffle omitted.

Figure 6 is a plan view of thebaffie inverted; v

Figure 7 is a side view of the baflle. 1 Figure 8 is a plan view of theoverbalanced unit, or weight. V

Figure 9 is a sectional view of the weight detached. r I

Figure 10 is a View of the stopper turned to substantially a horizontalposition.

Figure 11 is a sectional view on F 'The stopper comprises a casing ofthin sheet metal having an upper portion I of generally cylindrical'form provided. with a substantially horizontal lip or flange 2 to reston the upper side of a shoulder or rib'3 projecting inwardly from thewall of the bottleneck. This lipor flange may be preformed, i. e.,before thestopper is inserted into the neck or mouth. of the bottle, or.it may be formed by a spinning operation after line n-n of the stopperhas been placed in the bottle. neck.

Below this flange andsp'aced apart therefrom a part of the sheet metalcasing is spun into the form of ahead 4 which lies under and against thelower side of the rib 3 integrally formed with the wall of thebottleneck. Theshell'of the easing extends down from the bead 4 inspaced apart relation to the wall of thebottle neck, and at its lowerend 'ithas' a bottomprovided by the inwardly extending flange 5, and anextension 6 of reduced diameter terminating in a'n annular inwardlyextending flangeta. This formation provides a bottom opening I and ashoulder 13 surrounding the same against which'rests a; ring shapedwasher 9 of soft materiahsuch as, for in-'- stance, blotting paper.'This washer provides'the seat for a hollow ball float valve ID formedof thin sheet metal. ball float valveis of a diameter to close thecentrally disposed bottom opening of the stopper when it rests upon. theseat afforded by the ring shaped washer.

. The ball when seated protrudes slightly through the bottom opening ofthe stopper into the space below the stopper, and within the bottle orbottleneck, The ball is guided by ribsll projecting inwardly from thewall of the shell, these ribs being formed'ofsheet metal portions spacedapart around the interiorof the stopper casing. The ball float valvecontacts with these ribs and is thus guided to move axially ofthestopper being spaced by said guide ribs away from the wall of casing,and providing outlet passages between them and atqvarious pointsaroundthe stopper for the outflow of fluid from the interior of the bottlepast the ball valve, when this is raised from its, seat. Within thecasing of, the stopper and above the ball valve'there is an invertedcupshaped member l2, theupper wall of which is spaced far enough abovethe ball to allow for free movement of the latter and for containing anoverbalanced weight member l3. This inverted cup-shaped member providesa bafiie and a shield to prevent direct access to the ball valve by awire or other means in an attempt to mechanically displace the valvefrom .its seat for refilling of the bottle.

This inverted cup-shaped shield or battle has openings throughits'side',walls. for'the outflow of fluid from the bottle. One of these sideopenings is indicated at M. The baflle or, shield is ofgenerallycylindrical form and is of a diameter less than that of theinterior diameter of the casing so Ias to provide an annular space i 5between the outeri'side ofsaid bafiie and the wall of the casing for theoutflow of the fluid content of the bottle. The baflie or shield memberis united to the casing of the stopper by its external flange l6 seatedwithin a bead l1 formed in the sheet metal wall .of the valve casing.This bead lies adjacent the level of the upper ends of the guides forthe ball valve, or, in other words, at the upper end'of the chambercontainingthese guide ribs and containing the ball valve when seated.The diameter of the bead is such thatthe stopper can be inserted throughthe opening or bore within the rib in the bottle neck. 3 V Anoverbalanoed weight member cooperates with the ball to exert pressurethereon for seating it. This weight may be of generally disc form, buthaving its face, which contacts with the ball of convexed curved formsomewhat similar, for instance, to a portion of a sphere. It rests uponthe ball at that portion. thereof which is disposed'substantially attheaxis of the stopper. Preferablytheweight is of concave-convex form. .Theedge of the disc weight rests upon guides I8 which are in the form ofribs on the interior of the wall of the inverted cup-shaped baffle orshield member.

These ribs or guides are spaced apart for the outflow of the fluid, andthey incline outwardly from the axis of the stopper in a directiontowards the outer end of the stopper, or, in other words, they may besaid. to flare upwardly and outwardly relative to the axis ofthe'stopper, when the bottle is in upright position.

When the bottle is held about horizontal, these ribs provide a seat forthe lowervedge of, the overbalanced disc weight, which seat inclinesdownwardly and outwardly, the result of which is that the lower edge ofthe weight will slide downwardly along the downwardly inclined guideupon which it happens to rest, it being noted that as the said guidesare disposed atvarious: points about the interior of the baifle member,there will always be'a rib, or ribs, upon which the lower edge of theoverbalancedweighted disc will rest,

no matter What portion of the .bottle is lower-' most when turned intosubstantially horizontal position. When the lower edge of the discweight slides forwardly down the inclined rib, said disc will tip overbecause of the preponderance of metal on its convexside, and thus thisconvex side will contact with the periphery of the hollow ball float andforce the same upon its seat to prevent access of liquid into thebottle, if an attempt is made to-refill the bottle by holding it in asubstantially horizontal position.

The top wall of the baflie member is provided withindented ribs lBaradially disposed; and these ribs are continued at l8b partway down theside of the balile member. The ribs l8 taper from about of an inch atthe rim of the b'afile to about zero as they approach the center. Theside ribs [8 are inclined from about of an inch in' height at the loweredgeof the baflie to zero before quite reaching the top of the bafile,and they meet the side extensions l8b of the indented ribs of the top ofthe baiile, which incline in the opposite direction relative to theribs" l8 viz. from the upper rim ofthe bafiie outwardly and downwardlyto the point where they meet the zero end of the ribsv it. There arealso ribs I80 similar to ribs i822 interposed between them "and oppositethe spaces between the ribs I8. These ribs at the top portion of thebaffle serve to slightly space the edge of the weight 13 away from thewall of the baffle and thus prevent the edge of the weight from adheringto thesaid wall when the parts are wet. i V

The parts are so proportioned'that the discharge of the'liquid oncestarted [through the valve seat will continue freely and progressivelythrough the stopper'casing and baffle, and there will be no tendency fora non-flowing body of liquid to build up within the stopper and causethe float'valve to flutter .in its action towards and from its seat,with consequent interruption of the prescribed free flow.

If it is attempted to refill the bottle when in upright position, theweight of the disc memher, will cause the ball valve to close" upon itsseat and prevent entrance-of the liquid into the bottle.

If attempt is made to'refill the bottle while inverted, thehollow ballwill float upwardly to its seat and close the opening therein.

The soft washer of blotting. paper upon which the hollow ball valveseats will soften. under the action of-the liquid and the fibers of thewasher will adapt themselves to the shape of the ball and make a closuresufficiently tight to prevent passage of the liquid, but not so tight aswill prevent the equalization of air pressure on opposite sides so thatno air lock will occur such as will hold the valve on its seat.

If pressure is applied, as in attempted refilling with a vacuum orpressure pump, the soft paper yields thereto conforming more closely tothe shape of the valve, and thus forming a closure which is absolutelytight.

The use of the buoyant ball valve, together with an overbalanced weight,and more especially one having a roundedor convex surface to contactwith the ball, results in an easy rolling action of the ball in itsguides when the weight presses upon the ball, there being littlefrictional contact between the convex side of the weightand the convexperiphery of the ball, said contact being a one point engagement. Thiscontributes to a quick and efficient closure of the ball upon its seat.

Inorder to retain the Washer or'valve seat ring in place, the wall ofthe casing can be crimped at l9 just above the point where the washer islocated to hold said washer in place.

It will be understood that the invention, in all its aspects, is notlimited to the details shown and described. For instance, the bafile.member may be held in place by a press fit, instead of by a flangeengaging a head on the main casing.

The ribs at the inner side of the top of the baflle prevent the discweight from sticking to the top of the bafile, particularly when Wet.

We claim:

1. A non-refillable bottle stopper comprising a float valve, a weightmember engaging the float, said weight member being adapted to pivot onits edge, and guide means flaring outwardly towards the mouth of thebottle and upon which the edge of the Weight member bears, saidoutwardly flaring guide means insuring that the portion-of the edge ofsaid weight upon which it pivots shall tend to move further away fromthe float which is engaged by the weight than any other portion of theweight, when the bottle is in substantially horizontal position, therebykeeping the force of the weight against the float.

2. Anon-refillable bottle according to claim 1 in which the float valveis of spherical form and the weight has a rounded convex face contactingdirectly with the spherical surface of said spherical valve.

3. A non-refillable bottle stopper comprising a shell having a valveseat with spaced guides for a valve above said seat, a float valve, abaffle above said valve consisting of a sheet metal member of invertedcup shape having ports and provided with a horizontally extending flangeat its lower edge, the Wall of said sheet metal casing being crimpedabout said flange, and a weight member within said baflle member adaptedto press upon the. float valve, substantially as described.

4. A non-refillable bottle according to claim 3 in which the casingextends above the baflle member and is crimped at its upper end aboveand below a projection from the wall of the bottle neck extending intothe bore of said neck.

5. A non-refillable bottle stopper comprising a casing member of sheetmetal and a battle member of sheet metal crimped into connection witheach other at a point intermediate the height of said casing, saidbafile member being of inverted cup shape, and'having ports in itssides, said casing member having a valve seat at its lower end andcrimped guides in its wall, a ball valve in the casing engaging saidguides and an overbalanced weight member to engage the ball valve, saidbafile member having guide ribs projecting inwardly from its wall, saidweight being within the battle and adapted to pivot on its edge slidablyengaging the guide ribsof said bafiie. V:

6. A non-refillable bottle stopper comprising a casing having a valveseat, a ball float valve within the casing, a baffle member of invertedcup shape carried within the casing above the valve and an overbalancedweight in said bafile member torest on the ball and adapted to pivot onthe wall of said bafilej 7. A non-refillable bottle stopperaccording toclaim 6 in which the baflie memberhas guide means incliningprogressively outward from the axis of the stopper towards the mouththereof, said overbalanced weight at its edge being adapted to haveslidingand pivotal contact with said inclined guides, substantially asdescribed.

8. A non-refillable bottle stopper comprising a sheet metal shell havinga valve seat, a valve in said shell, a sheet metal bafile member ofinverted cup shape within the shell and having a crimped connection withthe shell, said shell having an extension above the baflle to be crimpedinto connection with the bottle, said baflle having ports, substantially'as described.

9. In combination with a bottle having a projection extending from thewall of its neck into the bore of said neck, a non-refillable stoppercomprising a sheet metal casing, upset at its upper part outwardly aboveand below said projection, said casing at its lower part being of a lessdiameter than the bore of the bottle neck to fall into the bottle ifdetached at its upper end, and a valve carried by the casing,substantially as' described. I

10. A bottle stopper according to claim 1 in which the float valvememberis in the form of a ball and a valve seat comprising a ring of fibroussoft material, substantially as described.

11. A non-refillable bottle according to claim 1 in which the floatvalve member is in the form of a ball and the weight is overbalanced andof concavo-convex formation with its convex side contacting directlyagainst the spherical surface of the ball, substantiallyas described.

12. A non-refillable bottle comprising a ball valve, a weight member ofthe general form of an overbalanced disc, a bafile member within whichsaid weight member is located, the said baflle at its upper portionhaving means which space the edge of the weight away from the bafflewall to prevent adhesion thereto when the parts are wet.

V 13. A non-refillable bottle according to claim 12 in which the meansat the upper part of the baflle consist of ribs, substantially asdescribed.

14. A non-refillable bottle comprising a ball valve, an overbalancedweight of disc. like form to bear on the ball to seat the same, a bafilemember within which the weight member has sliding and tilting movement,ribs on the sides of the baffle incliningoutwardly in respect to theaxis of the baflle, and ribs at the top portion of the bafiie incliningreversely to the ribs first mentioned, substantially as described. 7

15. A non-refillable bottle stopper comprising a tubular sheet metalcasing, the upper portion of said tubular casing being of greaterdiameter than the lower portion thereof, a valve seat at the lower endof said casing, a sheet metal bafile member of inverted cup formreceived within the upper portion of said tubular casing and of lessdiameter than said upper casing portion to provide an annular spacetherebetween, said inverted cup-shaped baflie member being secured tosaid casing at the juncture between the upper casing portion and thereduced lower casing portion and forming substantially a continuation ofthe lower casing portion, said baflie member having holes only in itsside wall leading to said annular space, a valve on said seat and aweight member within said baflle member and bearing on said valve.

16. A non-refillable bottle stopper according to claim 15 in which thebaflle member has a terminal laterally extending flange and saidsheetmetal casing is crimped over to embrace said flange on both sidesthereof, said sheet metal casing at its upper end being crimped over toembrace both sides of an anular bead within the bottle.

JOSEPH HARRY GRUVER. JAMES H. BALDWIN.

